Swagger — that’s what Riley Keough has in “The Girlfriend Experience,” Starz’s limited series based on the Steven Soderbergh movie from 2009. As Christine, a student-turned-prostitute who enjoys her work, the 27-year-old actress embraced the role taken by Sasha Grey in the original film, of a strong, sexual woman unapologetic about her career.

“She’s happy with her choices,” said Keough, who also happens to be the granddaughter of Elvis Presley. “I don’t think she needs other people to make her feel better, which is very rare for a female character. If I was reading this pilot about a man, I would be like, ‘Yeah! He’s got swagger.‘”

As usual, Keough is nobody’s victim in the miniseries. “‘The Girlfriend Experience’ is about power,” she said. “Christine’s a controlling, selfish, manipulative person who channels that into her law career, and this new career that she seems to get more power out of. She’s just a very practical girl who likes sex.”

Keough met with Christine’s real-world equivalents, “girls who enjoyed it and chose to do it” — though in one way, the real Christines were different from the character. “The thing I was most interested in was, ‘Do you have feelings for your client?’” she said. “And they did. It was actually very sad, because a lot of them had stories about a client who might have feelings back, but they’d never get together. There was a sadness that really struck me.”

But if there’s any of that sadness in Christine, the audience doesn’t see it. “It didn’t go into her inner dialogue or tell you how to feel. I thought that was a very interesting thing to do to an audience.”

The original film was one of Soderbergh’s more adventurous and defiantly indie productions, and the TV version — created and written by Lodge Kerrigan and Amy Seimetz, and executive produced by Soderbergh — takes a similar approach.

“The whole thing was very experimental and fun,” said Keough, who got her start in the 2010 rock movie “The Runaways.” “It was the format of independent film — tiny crew, very low lighting. I heard that TV is very rigid, you have to hit your mark, and I thought, ‘Oh, God!’ But the idea of this is to shoot it like a film. We got to do what we wanted. I think there was one Starz rep there the whole time, and they didn’t see a cut until the end.”

Like her grandfather during his largely unfortunate years in Hollywood, Keough said she is offered her share of lucrative but lousy projects. “It’s tempting financially for like 15 seconds, but I’ve never been in it for those things so I don’t have a problem,” said Keough, whose mother is Lisa Marie Presley and whose stepdads have includedNicolas Cage and Michael Jackson.

“[Actresses] have to play the dumb girlfriend forever until they finally get their chance,” the ‘Girlfriend Experience’ star says, as she talks with THR about Hollywood stereotypes, working with Steven Soderbergh and why she looks up to Brie Larson and Alicia Vikander.

Four years ago, Riley Keough took a turn as a stripper in Magic Mike. Now starring in Starz’s The Girlfriend Experience, she’s got an even saucier role, that of a high-end escort who’s a law student by day. The part marks the 27-year-old actress’ second collaboration with Magic Mike helmer Steven Soderbergh, who executive produced this anthology adaptation of his 2009 movie. “The one thing I said in the beginning is that I’m not going be able to play what you would imagine a generic, sexy law student moonlighting as an escort to be,” says Keough. “She was going to be a little bit off.” The granddaughter of Elvis Presley and daughter of Lisa Marie soon will work with the prolific director for a third time on his return to the film world, Logan Lucky, her role in which — much like the film itself — is shrouded in secrecy. She most recently appeared in George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road and next stars in the Cannes standout American Honey alongside Shia LaBeouf and sci-fi romance The Discovery with Robert Redford.

How did you get this role?

Steven came to me two years after Magic Mike and was like, “Hey, we have this show and we want you to play the lead in it.” I read the script and had questions like, “What is the point of this show?” (Laughs.) I tend to overanalyze.

Did Soderbergh explain?

They just ended up giving me [scripts for] all of the episodes, which is rare for TV. I had this very weird phenomenon occurring where I was having all of these emotions and the character, Christine, wasn’t. Like, I’m irritated or nervous, and she’s just chill. I found myself projecting my own feelings onto her.

But did you get your questions answered?

Yes. I cannot and will not play something if I still have questions. I feel like I am being fraudulent. I’ve done it once probably, and I will never do it again. That is just my own integrity. If I feel like I’m full of shit, then surely everyone else will feel like I am full of shit.

Since this is your first time working on a TV series, albeit a limited series, did you have any concerns?

What I had heard about TV is that it’s very rigid — that you have to hit your mark, look a certain way, do certain things, that there is no freedom artistically — and that’s my worst nightmare. I don’t work well in rigid environments. But the idea of getting to develop this character in real time was really exciting to me. Depending on your role, you normally get 15 minutes to an hour on the screen in a film, and you’re like, “How do I get all of this into this one scene?” In TV, you can just exist as the character.

And that offers advantages for the viewer, right?

Yeah, you get to know Christine in a more realistic time frame. It builds in the way it would build if you meet a real human being. That said, I was like, “I don’t know if this is going to work for TV. People might be like, “What the f— is this?” We shot it like an independent film, so it’s different than what TV viewers are used to seeing.

Did you do any research into high-end sex work?

I met with call girls — and they weren’t crazy! They were actually very smart women; most of them were probably more intelligent than me. It kind of put me in my place, and it opened my eyes to the fact that there are intelligent college students putting themselves through school that way and enjoy it. I didn’t know anything about sex work before, but it was fine because I was playing Christine as she discovers this.

What was the hardest thing for you to wrap your mind around about the character?

Her ability to compartmentalize things because I’m not very good at that at all.

You’ve said that the sexual nature of the material wasn’t difficult for you. Why do you think that is?

People get weird about sex, but I had gotten to a place where I understood Christine, and I was in her headspace. She’s not uncomfortable in those moments, so I’m not uncomfortable. I am more insecure than Christine in some ways, but I was definitely her for that period of time — and that really helped. You play to different parts of yourself when you take on various roles. Like, you are your confident self when you’re playing this person, and you’re your sad self when playing another person — but it’s all a part of you somewhere.

Do you want to do more television?

I do and I don’t — it’s stressful. There are a couple opportunities at the moment, but I have never been committed to something for four or six years. I got lucky with The Girlfriend Experience in the sense that it was one season and was meant to be that way. When I signed on, they told me that every season is going to be a different girl. I was like, “Sweet, if I hate it, then I’m out.” I get done playing people, and I feel that way with Christine. I wouldn’t want to do a second season.

What’s the biggest misconception people have about you?

Not to be an asshole, but people are expecting a hot dumb girl, whereas I am sort of cynical and smart. I know from auditions because I get called in to do roles, and I’m like, “You don’t know me. I am not going to be able to play that well.” And it’s for the pretty girl, the sexy girlfriend. The roles they write for women are so shitty. I think part of me just rebels against it, so I immediately make myself not able to do [the part]. I walk in the room, and they are like, “Oh, never mind.”

Are there not better roles for women now?

Our options still are limited. Though what I am reading right now in film versus TV is like night and day. I think because it’s scary to go outside the box when you’re trying to sell a blockbuster. And if there is a good movie, there are five girls who are going to do it, and all of the other ones have to play the dumb girlfriend forever until they finally get their chance. That’s why I feel so empowered by Brie Larson and Alicia Vikander. Now we’re demanding more-intelligent and less-two-dimensional roles. It’s breaking down that stupid thing where you have to be a dumb blond girl with big boobs. Whoever first brought that to the table is being torn to shit.

Elvis Presley’s granddaughter, the actress Riley Keough looked fabulous in this striking dress on the red carpet of the Council Of Fashion Designers Of America Awards in New York on Monday. ( 6 June 2016)

Riley looked fantastic in her striped white dress, which did a great job of highlighting her generous cleavage thanks to its plunging neckline, and which was held up by black silk straps.

Riley Keough attended The Ninth Annual Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic in New Jersey on 6 June 2016. Her husband Ben Smith-Peterson accompanied her at the event. She said via her instagram that it is her first time watching a polo game.